Forster collects SAC Freshman of the Year Honors
ROCK HILL, S.C. – Tom Forster (Oundle, England) became the first Eagle in more than five years to be named South Atlantic Conference Freshman of the Year on Friday and he also garnered a spot on the All-SAC First-Team. Teammates Jake Headrick (Maryville, Tenn.) and Dalton Reese (Warrenton, Ga.) were selected for the All-SAC Second-Team.
VIDEO: Tom Forster Interview
VIDEO: Randy Wylie Interview
ROCK HILL, S.C. – Tom Forster (Oundle, England) became the first Eagle in more than five years to be named South Atlantic Conference Freshman of the Year on Friday and he also garnered a spot on the All-SAC First-Team. Teammates Jake Headrick (Maryville, Tenn.) and Dalton Reese (Warrenton, Ga.) were selected for the All-SAC Second-Team.
"I had high expectations for Tom," said coach Randy Wylie. "He's played very well, I'm pleased with his year and I'm very excited for him to receive this award. We're not done yet, we've got the conference championships coming up and hopefully an NCAA bid, so he may yet exceed my expectations."
Forster is the first student-athlete from Mossy Creek to be named SAC Freshman of the Year since Jonathan Kim-Moss received the award in 2011. His first season in Jefferson City has seen him craft a stroke average of 72.7, which puts him at an average of one-over for each round. Three times during the 2016-17 campaign, Forster finished a tournament in the top 10, including the Bobby Nichols Intercollegiate in Sevierville, where he placed second. His second round 66 in that event is tied for the lowest 18-hole score by C-N this season. The Oundle, England native is also the only member of the squad not to finish any event with a mark of 10-over or higher.
"I've played solidly all year," said Forster. "It's been good golf throughout the whole season. I haven't really had any slip-ups and I'm really happy with it. I think [from the beginning] I was expected to put in a performance every week and really contribute to the team, but this level of contribution was not really expected."
For Headrick, his spot on the second-team marks an improvement after he was an Honorable Mention choice last year. He was at his best during the Bobby Nichols Intercollegiate, where he picked up his first collegiate victory, edging out Forster by a single shot. He capped off a final round 66 by making a 60-foot putt on the final hole, clinching the win. The sophomore can also lay claim to two more top 10 finishes and three of his team's six best rounds of golf over the last eight months.
This marks the second consecutive year on the All-SAC roster for Reese, who has been a reliable presence in coach Wylie's lineup throughout the 2016-17 campaign. In nine competitions, the senior has shot better than five-over seven times and placed in the top 10 twice. His best showing came at his team's first event of the year, the St. Leo Invitational, where he placed seventh at two-under.
"[Headrick and Reese] are really consistent and very experienced players," said Wylie. "The more experienced your players are, the more you can count on them to handle adversity. They're both really tough competitors and that's what allows them to produce week in and week out."
The SAC awarded the title of Men's Golfer of the Year to Mars Hill's Adam Lumley, who led the league with an adjusted stroke average of 71.78. Travis Muncy of Lincoln Memorial was tabbed as Coach of the Year.
Along with Forster and Lumley, the other members of the All-SAC First-Team were Spencer Skiff of Newberry, LMU's Sam Broadhurst and John McFadyen, who plays for Queens (N.C.). The Eagles were the only team with more than two student-athletes between the first and second-teams. Newberry and LMU did have one player each on the first and second-teams and the Honorable Mention roster.
Forster, Headrick and Reese, along with the rest of coach Wylie's squad, will be in action at the SAC Championships in Salisbury, N.C. beginning on Sunday. For complete coverage of the conference tournament, visit cneagles.com.
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